Daily
news - 21st November 2018

This updated Alcohol Framework sets out our national prevention aims on alcohol: the activities that will reduce consumption and minimise alcohol-related harm ariring in the first place. It builds on the 2009 Framework, and retains three central themes which are well accepted and understood: reducing consumption; positive attitudes, positive choices; supporting families and communities | Scottish Government, UK

This report summarises the content and completeness of data contained within the Hepatitis C patient registry and treatment outcome system at the end of April 2018, enabling a preliminary assessment of HCV treatment and its monitoring in England | PHE, UK

Rapid reviews are a form of evidence synthesis that may provide more timely information for decision making. We intend that these reviews improve public knowledge on key areas and help inform our research activities going forward. Budget: £20,000 per review including VAT | Alcohol Change UK, UK

Drug-related deaths are the highest they have ever been. We know that medication-assisted treatments (MAT), such as the prescription of methadone and buprenorphine, are our most powerful interventions. Supporting opioid-dependent service users to begin MAT at the earliest and safest opportunity saves lives | CGL, UK

How can we make the most of group therapy, a common treatment/support format? Recommendations do not get more authoritative than those advanced in this review commissioned by the American Psychological Association, based on findings across psychotherapy linking group ‘cohesion’ with better outcomes | Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK

The level of drug use in the population is an ongoing topic of concern for policymakers, and regular adjustments to the penalty for this might reflect how much sanctions are viewed politically as appropriate to deter use | Addiction, UK

Deaths during or soon after pregnancy rose 34 percent during that time, and the percentage involving heroin, fentanyl or prescription painkillers (such as OxyContin) jumped from 4 percent to 10 percent, the researchers said | Medical Xpress, USA

A comprehensive analysis examining the relationship between vaping and smoking among youth and young adults finds that cigarette smoking dramatically decreased between 2013 and 2017 just as e-cigarette use became more popular | EurekAlert, USA

When patients with dependence on alcohol, cocaine or nicotine are shown drug cues, or images related to the substance, an area of their brain known as the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) shows increased activity, report investigators at the Medical University of South Carolina | Medical Xpress, USA

Many people know of ketamine as a hallucinogenic and addictive street drug, which, when abused, can put people in medical peril. But today, doctors are increasingly looking to ketamine as a potentially lifesaving treatment for people with severe, treatment-resistant depression, who may be at high risk for suicide | Harvard Medical School, USA

The trade in “legal highs” was banned in 2016 when the UK government introduced the Psychoactive Substances Act. Two years later, the government has published a review of the effects of its legislation | Conversation, UK

He guides the needle smoothly into a shrivelled vein, with expert precision, careful to avoid any blowouts or a citric burn. Letting go of his friend’s limp arm, he watches him drift into a ‘good’ place, content there’s no overdose risk | CGL blog, UK

Today (#OurDay) I was at an event in Bournemouth where we were discussing how we could get the different services to work efficiently and effectively together, when there’s decreasing resources at the same time as many of the people who need support are facing increasing challenges, such as unstable housing... | Thinking to some purpose, UK

Women are the target of a force-fed story that wine is their best friend, “mommy-juice” makes children more tolerable, low-calorie booze is good for them, a glass of red wine a night is healthy – and that all of this is perfectly okay, just don’t get addicted | Independent voices, UK

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